Go to date:

Search Notices:

Daily Digest

AMUM Celebrates 35 Years With Special Birthday Surprise

The Art Museum of the University of Memphis is turning 35 this year and in celebration will present “This May Surprise You,” an exhibition featuring hidden gems in its collections. The exhibition will open Friday, Oct. 14, with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and run through Dec. 17.

To commemorate its milestone, AMUM will take a new look at the collection that has been built over 3 1/2 decades. The display will feature work that has rarely or never been seen and include long-held items and newly acquired pieces.

Among the items will be a 200-year-old Japanese book made of rice paper, which will be displayed with one of two full-Japanese armor suits AMUM has in its possession; newly acquired works by Josef Albers, an abstract artist who was instrumental in bringing the tenets of European modernism to America; a royal chair with human figures made of brass; a 16th-century illustrated book about Aztec culture; a 5th-6th century Egyptian textile with dancers; indigo wrap for a wealthy African woman; and a newly revealed Egyptian snake mummy.

When AMUM opened on Oct. 18, 1981, as Memphis State University Gallery in the newly built Communication and Fine Arts Building, the Department of Art was poised to deposit Egyptian antiquities purchased from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, an assortment of prints and objects acquired for teaching purposes and a loaned collection of African art.

During its first years the gallery accepted, without plan or policy, many other gifts, including ancient Roman vessels and statuettes, Native American textiles, pre-Columbian miniature ceramics, masks and textiles produced by several world cultures and illustrated woodblock and engraved publications, as well as assorted paintings, drawings and prints.

Double Decker Bus Returns in Collierville

The town of Collierville’s Double Decker bus is back in service after a cleaning and reupholstering.

The 64-seater Routemaster is available for rentals for parties, birthdays and other outings. It also serves as a mobile visitor center for the town and is a feature of most town events on the Collierville Square.

The Double Decker was made in 1964 and was the last designed by London Transport. It was bought by the town 20 years ago.

– Bill Dries

Tennessee Gets $19.6 Million For Charter Schools

The Tennessee Department of Education is getting a $19.6 million share of $245 million in federal funding to support public charter schools.

The grant from the the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday, Sept. 29, will be used to start and expand charter schools selected by state education officials as well as replicate successful charter school models, said Sara Gast of the Tennessee Department of Education.

Gast said the grant will also be used to “decrease the number of academically poor-performing charter schools by strengthening charter school accountability and oversight of authorizers and support improvements in all schools with emphasis on closing achievement gaps for educationally disadvantaged students.”

– Bill Dries

Tennessee Ranks 13th In Tax Competitiveness

Tennessee has the 13th most competitive tax code in the nation, according to the 13th annual State Business Tax Climate Index just released by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

The report measures how well-structured each state’s tax code is by analyzing more than 100 tax variables in five different tax categories: corporate, individual income, sales, property and unemployment insurance.

Tennessee’s ranking by category, which resulted in the 13th best competitive tax code overall, was:

• Corporate tax structure – 22nd best

• Individual income tax structure – 8th

• Sales tax structure – 46th

• Property tax structure – 29th

• Unemployment insurance tax structure – 23rd

The state with the most competitive tax code was Wyoming, the Tax Foundation study found, followed by South Dakota, Alaska, Florida and Nevada.

Louisiana was found to have the least competitive tax code.

States are penalized for overly complex, burdensome and economically harmful tax codes and rewarded for transparent and neutral tax codes that do not distort business decisions, according to the foundation.

“Our goal with the State Business Tax Climate Index is to start a conversation between taxpayers and policymakers about how their states fare against the rest of the country,” Tax Foundation policy analyst Jared Walczak said in a statement. “While there are many ways to show how much a state collects in taxes, the index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems, and to provide a roadmap for improvement.”

– Daily News staff

Trampoline Park Coming To Trinity Commons in Cordova

A new retail tenant in Trinity Commons shopping center in Cordova could have some Memphians jumping for joy.

“This will be a one-of-a-kind facility that will attract families from across Cordova, Germantown, Bartlett and Memphis,” Michael Browning, CEO of Urban Air Trampoline & Adventure Parks, said in a statement.

Urban Air will employ 45 in Cordova, and will begin accepting applications this winter.